


Moonlit

by Iloquence



Category: The Two Princes (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon, non-established relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 05:37:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iloquence/pseuds/Iloquence
Summary: Joan explores the Heartland for possible dangers (though she is very aware of the possibility that there aren’t any) and someone (also aware that there may not be any dangers) wants to tag along in case Joan gets hurt. What could be more romantic than a day out in the hills with a lady knight?It’s not like bears and wolves exist, right?





	Moonlit

Joan was on a self-assigned mission to scope out the Heartland. The Heartland, as of everyone’s current beliefs, was a hilled landscape filled with flowers, tall trees, and supposedly reported from the princes, a beautiful waterfall. Though they expressed clear sadness upon wondering if the waterfall left along with the rest of the curse. But there must still be dangers lying around someplace. The Heartland was a large piece of land after all. There could be bears and wolves. Or maybe more dragons.

Joan could handle a dragon on her own, right?

Well, Cecily, truly believed that Joan could handle dragon on her own. Especially with those toned biceps, abs, and deadly calves. Joan could totally trash a dragon. Yes. Cecily believed it.

But it wouldn’t be right to just let Joan run around the Heartland alone, even if she could crush a dragon with her bare hands.

Cecily looked at her reflection in the fountain that they had just installed in the square of the kingdom. She combed her hair with her fingers, because even if she was a warrior, that didn’t stop her from wanting to look beautiful. She reddened when she thought about Joan. Would Joan care if Cecily was trying to improve her appearance?

Never mind that. Cecily needed to catch up with Joan. She tied her curls up into a half ponytail, gripped her spear, and marched out the kingdom.

\---

Joan studied her surroundings. The land was starting to become unfamiliar. They hadn’t explored much of the Heartland past the clear hills. They never went into the trees, possibly because it reminded the villagers too much about the Enchanted Forest.

The trees were shorter than the ones from the Enchanted Forest. The sun shone through the foliage and created dancing shadows on the grass. The bugs and small critters scattered at Joan’s feet. Small squirrels scurried into the trees. One small squirrel chittered and rested their ears on the tree trunks. Then the squirrel removed their ear from the tree and ran up and down the branch. It returned to the tree trunk and chittered. It seemed to her that the squirrel was talking to the trees. But that couldn’t be possible. The forest wasn’t magical anymore.

Moving along, Joan found more creatures that acted like they could understand the trees and the dirt. Even some of the beetles pointed their antennae at rocks and pebbles before inching across the tree roots.

And when a soft breeze rustled the leaves, the creatures seemed to stop and listen to its whispers. When the wind died down, the creatures would continue.

Was Joan imagining things? Or was this forest still magical? Or was this what a forest was supposed to look like? Had she forgotten what forest life was supposed to be in the past eighteen years?

She had a small suspicion that, while she definitely had forgotten what a forest was supposed to look like, this forest still had magic. Not an evil curse, but pure natural magic.

She smiled, suddenly feeling blessed to be able to experience the forest like this. If she had stayed a stablegirl for the rest of her life, would she have been able to watch the squirrels speak to the trees? Would she have been able to witness the wind calm the forest creatures?

A twig snapped behind her. Joan turned, unsheathing her sword. “Who’s there?” She stopped and sighed. “Oh, it’s just a deer.”

The fawn’s ears pressed against its head. It backed away from the sword nervously.

“No, it’s okay!” Joan sheathed her sword. “I won’t hurt you! I was just surprised!”

Then the fawn’s ears prickled upward. It walked up to her and sniffed her hand. It rubbed its head against her palm, forcing Joan to pet its head. She laughed.

“Oh, how can something be so cute?” she cooed. Joan patted the fawn’s head. Suddenly, it heard something and pranced off.

Joan looked up. “Cecily?”

Cecily grinned widely. “Um, hey! What’s up?”

“I’m just looking around Heartland. Why are you here?”

“Well, like, I just wanted to join you, y’know?” Cecily twiddled her fingers. She bounced in place on her toes.

“Cecily, I appreciate the thought, but what if something comes and attacks you?”

“I can handle it!” Cecily pushed her sleeves up and pumped her fists, excited. “Come on, Joan! It will be so much fun! I mean, have you seen the forest so far? It’s so, so beautiful!”

“It is,” Joan chuckled. She led Cecily through the forest. “I can’t believe the forest changed so drastically.”

“Yeah, I was thinking it would still be creepy and stinky. But it actually smells nice!” Cecily hurried to walk beside Joan.

Joan looked down at the dress she wore. “Did you make that dress?”

“Hm?” Cecily twirled around. “Yes, I did! It was, like, super easy to make, but everyone was looking at me weirdly.” The dress skirt was much shorter than a usual dress that ladies wore. This one reached her knees and was less poofy.

“A lot more practical than what you usually wear,” Joan commented, admiring her work.

“I made it for when we’re practicing and sparring!” Cecily explained. “I was like, ‘What if I made a dress that didn’t, you know, make me trip all the time?’ And so I made this cute little dress! It’ll take a while for it to catch on, but I think it’s fashion forward!” She held her head high, proud of her new creation.

“Yes,” Joan replied. “Hopefully, the other women will start wearing dresses like that. It might be too soon for you all to begin wearing pants. But the dresses are a good start.”

“Don’t worry! I’ll make cute pants, too!” Cecily enthusiastically promised. Her eyes glimmered in ambition. Joan stifled a giggle.

They walked deeper into the forest. The creatures watched them pass through. The trees didn’t say a word.

\---

“So how is life?” Cecily asked. She cocked her head to one side. “Anything fun?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in.”

“You’d be surprised! I’m interested in a lot of things.”

“I’m sure my life isn’t that interesting.”

“But it is!” Cecily interjected. “You’re really interesting!” She blushed but didn’t let it get in the way of her feelings.

“I think you’re so cool, Joan!”

“Uh,” Joan blushed, “thanks. I’ve been training more often with the Eastern soldiers. To watch their technique and apply it to our warriors.”

“Ooh! Do you think we could do that cool thing where we make a huge shield barrier!” Cecily jumped up and down. “That looks so cool!”

“It does,” Joan smiled. “And it’s a fantastic defensive strategy.”

‘And, and, and…!”

Cecily tripped on a root and nearly fell over. Joan managed to catch her by the waist.

“Are you okay?” Joan asked. “You should be more careful. There are more trees in this area.”

“I’m fine!” Cecily flustered about, flailing around her arms. “Really!”

She stood up straight and she and Joan stared at each other. They looked away.

“Well, let’s get going,” Joan said. “I want to check over here.” 

They walked through the forest and noted that the farther they traversed, the less light filtered through the trees.

However, the forest didn’t seem that different from earlier. It was odd. They felt like something was watching them, but this thing wasn’t there to hurt them. It was like the gaze from a watchful mother.

“Wait.” Joan extended an arm. Cecily stopped before it. “Do you hear that?”

“What? It can’t be like a bear or something, right? Wouldn’t they be going to their home to sleep or something?”

“We best be careful,” Joan warned.

As they tread slowly through the trees, a wolf pounced in front of them. Cecily gasped and slapped her hands in front of her mouth. Joan rushed forward and unsheathed her sword.

The wolf’s gray hairs stood on end. It stood nearly at Joan’s height. Its canines hung outside its mouth like fangs. Its eyes glowed softly and its growl echoed in the forest.

“Get back, Cecily!”

“No, I’m not leaving!” Cecily took out her knife. “I mean, I only have a knife, but I am not leaving you!”

The wolf suddenly jumped at Joan, baring its teeth. Joan slashed at its torso, but it still stood. “Damn!” she cursed. “This can’t be a normal wolf. It’s… bigger than usual.”

“Watch out!” Cecily pulled Joan away from the wolf and they fell to the ground. Cecily scrambled up and faced the wolf. It snarled and she ran forward.

The wolf jumped, its muzzle coming straight towards her head. Cecily raised her hand and cut through the flesh of the wolf’s chest. The knife struck deep into the wolf and struggled to remove itself. Cecily, still holding the knife, pulled her arms behind her head and she used the momentum to dodge the wolf’s bite. 

She turned backwards to see the wolf struggling to get up from the ground. She ran to Joan and pulled her up.

“Come on! We have to hurry! We can’t beat it right now. Not alone! What is that thing?” They ran through the forest.

“Wolves shouldn’t be that big or powerful,” Joan gasped. “Some of the forest’s magic should still be intact!”

“But why use it on a wolf?” Cecily complained.

“I don’t know. Is it gone?”

Cecily looked backward. “No, I think--” Her foot tripped on a rock and she stumbled over.

“Cecily!” Joan stopped and kneeled down beside her. “Are you okay?”

“I think I have a bruise on my face, but other than that I’m fine.” Cecily grinned. “But I think the wolf is gone.”

Joan smiled. She helped her up. “Good.”

“I guess we have to go back and tell the princes that there are monstrous wolves in the forest?” Cecily suggested.

“Yeah. I didn’t really expect that.” Joan shook her head. “I thought if we had to fight anything, it would be a regular wolf or bear that we happened upon.”

“What the heck was it?” Cecily wondered. “Was it like some sort of werewolf? Are werewolves even real?”

“I hope not. But we’ll have to remember this for later.”

Cecily brushed off the twigs on her skirt and picked out the leaves in her hair. Grumbling, she rushed to clean her face of the dirt. Joan plucked a small leaf atop Cecily’s head and smiled.

“You really care about your appearance, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do!” Cecily blushed and awkwardly laughed. “I just… can’t get enough of my amazing good looks.”

Joan chuckled. “You are very beautiful.”

Cecily’s wide smile shrank back down to a small little line. Beautiful. Joan thought she was beautiful. Cupping her own face in her hands, Cecily gushed. “Oh, thanks!”

Joan offered Cecily a hand. “Let’s get going. And don’t trip anymore.”

Hesitantly, Cecily took Joan’s hand. With a wavering smile and fluttering eyes, Cecily followed Joan through the forest.

\---

“Joan?”

“Yes?”

The two women were sitting on a log as the sun began to set. They had been walking for an hour and decided to rest.

“If you thought that the forest wasn’t that dangerous, why are you here?”

“I’m actually here to find a waterfall.”

“A waterfall?” Cecily repeated.

Joan nodded, inspecting her sword. “The princes said something about a waterfall being in the enchanted forest, but they seemed upset when I mentioned it could have disappeared along with it. So I went off to see if it was still around.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Cecily complimented. She scooched closer to Joan. “So you wanted to surprise them about the news if you found it? Wow.”

“The princes are very busy so I wanted to do this for them.”

“Oh, and here I am messing everything up!” Cecily hung her head and groaned. She hoped Joan didn’t think lowly of her now, but she wouldn’t hold it against her if she did.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Cecily.” Joan, surprised, placed a hand on her shoulder. “You are the one that saved me from the wolf.”

“Yeah, but you could have handled it just fine yourself, too.”

“But you saved me. That was brave and selfless of you.”

Cecily glanced up at Joan who flashed a big smile. Cecily smiled back. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“Now, if only--” Joan stopped and focused her eyes on the trees behind Cecily. “Do you hear that?”

“Is it the wolf again?” Cecily turned backward.

“No, that’s not it.” Joan muttered. “It’s coming from behind those trees.” She rushed over, leaving Cecily. She shouted and whooped.

“Yes! Cecily, look! We’ve found it!”

“The waterfall?” Cecily ran over and gasped when she saw it. “Oh, my God.”

“I can’t believe it…” Joan dropped her sword on the ground. “It’s so beautiful. Now I know why the princes missed this place.”

“It’s so pretty!” Cecily gushed, looking into the water.

“Do you think that the breaking the curse made it even more beautiful than before?” Joan wondered. “I mean, I’ve never seen it before, but it couldn’t have looked like this while the forest was cursed.”

“Maybe it did,” Cecily said. She splashed the water in her face and rubbed off the dirt. “The water feels so nice!”

“Is it cool?”

“Yeah!”

Joan chuckled and sat next to her. She took off her boots and dipped her feet in the water. “That’s nice.”

Cecily copied Joan. They sat there in silence, looking at the setting sun. Cecily held onto Joan’s hand.

“I like it here.”

“So do I,” Joan reciprocated. “But we have to get back now. It won’t be long before dark. Maybe this magical forest can lead us back home in one piece.”

“Or we can stay here until morning,” Cecily joked. She giggled and swirled her feet in the water.

“Actually, that sounds nice.”

Cecily looked up, shocked. “What?”

Joan got closer to Cecily. “We can spend the night here. So long as no wolves find us. And it’s close to dark anyways. We can stay.”

So they stayed at the moonlit waterfall until morning. The full moon’s light blanketed them in the dark. It was a quiet and still night.


End file.
